Design and Tech Changes Give ECs More Options

Until recently, contractors installing LEDs didn’t need to
focus on the design—considering how the lighting will perform
within a specific location and whether it matches the
customer’s expectations. But electrical contractor roles have
been changing as design-build projects bring contractors into the
engineering and layout of facility lighting. Meanwhile, other
technologies such as controls and even solar panels are being
integrated into a lighting system.

For LED and control suppliers, and for the customer, contractors
can now serve as the main line of defense in ensuring the lights
are installed according the specifications while being balanced
against the space they’re illuminating, technology needs and
budget limitations.

Getting the end-user the product they want is paramount, but it
is not as straightforward as lighting installations of the past.
LEDs can last many thousands of hours, but many factors can
compromise performance immediately or years ahead.

And today, companies are integrating a growing number of sensors
into LED luminaires. They can include the basics (e.g., motion
sensors) as well as detection for hazardous environments.
It’s still in its infancy, but we can expect to see sensor
technology become more ubiquitous.

Controls technology company Crestron is helping
contractors overcome challenges in the installation of controls and
lighting as the systems get more sophisticated. The company relies
on its contractors, said Jim McGrath, Crestron director of
engineering, sales and development. He said Crestron strives to
help with design, installation and follow-through.

It starts with the basics, McGrath said. Any installer needs to
understand the wiring between the controls and the fixtures, and
problems still arise during installations on a daily basis.

The second challenge for installers is setting the right
expectations. If they are replacing a fluorescent system with LED,
for instance, the lighting just isn’t going to perform
exactly the same way, and customers need to understand that. That
includes the dimming capability and the ability to adjust to very
low lighting.

“LEDs are a brighter light source,” McGrath said. A
typical fixture will produce brighter light, and the end-user's
ability to adjust lighting is going to be imperative.

Another point is ensuring the right color temperature, McGrath
said. Typically a fluorescent or incandescent light provides 3,000
kelvin (K), which is on the warm end of the color spectrum, while
LEDs average around 5,000K, which is the range of cooler colors
(bluish white). Customers and contractors should reach an agreement
on the brightness and the color temperature that they can achieve
with any installation before it goes into place, McGrath said.

In the past, this was the kind of consideration contractors
didn’t have to be concerned with, he said. They were able to
focus on changing out ballasts and figuring out wiring. The control
variations (brightness and color temperature) create a new set of
considerations that make contractors a larger part of the
project.

“Because there are so many variables, we have a whole
design-assist team with local representation,” McGrath said,
so contractors can get support before, during and after an
installation.

This can all be good news for contractors. The changes in
lighting challenges offer a new market. They are poised to partner
with electrical engineers, work more closely with customers, and
serve as experienced designers for both new and retrofit LED
installations.

Companies like Crestron also offer education in the form of
training sessions to help get contractors started or keep them up
to date before they take on the next installation.

“It takes a while to learn a new technology, and things
are changing very fast,” McGrath said.

In the next year, he said, the LED industry will move toward
more granular controls with individual fixtures that can each have
its own intelligence and can have a wireless connection to a
network so that they no longer need to be wired together. Moving
forward he said contractors can expect increasingly independent and
intelligent light fixtures, with sensors to measure data such as
the use of space in a conference room, down to how many people are
seated around a table.

Similarly, Lutron
Electronics provides as much direction as contractors
require, before, during and after an installation.

“The LED solution shouldn’t be a puzzle for the
contractor to solve,” said Brian Donlon, Lutron sales vice
president, North America. He pointed out that control and lighting
manufacturers like Lutron are dedicated to simplifying the process
of selection, design, installation and setup. That, he said,
ensures the system can meet the design intent, be installed and
programmed easily, and be intuitive for the customer.

To meet the variety of deployment challenges such as dimming
requirements, for each unique project, Lutron offers drivers with
dimming ranges from 5 percent to 0.1 percent and compatible control
solutions to guarantee smooth, flicker-free performance.

“Lutron LED solutions [provide] design freedom, offering
its control technology in more than 80,000 fixtures from over 400
manufacturers to deliver guaranteed dimming performance,” he
said.

Wireless solutions are increasingly making installations faster
and easier as well, Donlon said, with reduced labor costs and
simple programming. Wireless solutions also work with a
facility’s existing wiring, he added, which allows
contractors to add additional points of control and sensor
capabilities, with no new wiring, while programming can be
accomplished from any smart device using convenient system
apps.

Going solar

In today’s outdoor lighting applications, LEDs are being
powered by solar panels, in some cases, presenting their own set of
advantages and challenges. First Light
Technologies provides wire-free lighting with intelligent
self-contained solar luminaires and bollards which includes
built-in solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, efficient LED
Lighting engines, and intelligent controllers. These solar fixtures
eliminate the need for trenching or cabled power installations
while providing lighting all night, every night.

With traditional solar lighting, as with any other solar-powered
systems, separate solar panels must be mounted to a pole and wired
to the battery box and then the light fixture, with application of
mounting brackets, cabinets, as well as equipment such as bucket
trucks and cranes to get the installer into the air during
installation. First Light offers a simpler solar power installation
with its self-contained solar lights where the LED, solar module,
battery and intelligent controller are built directly into the
light fixture.

That enables a simpler installation with a product that provides
more control for the end user.

“Not only are our lights super easy to install, they
utilize a self-learning predictive adaptive control
mechanism,” for instance, said Dan Szgatti, First Light
marketing director, they learn the environment they are in and
respond accordingly with the goal of delivering the most light on
the ground where and when it is needed. No complete solar
insolation modelling is required.

It’s not necessarily a no-brainer when it comes to design
and installation, however.

“We often see a significant disconnect between the people
specifying, and those installing the lighting,” Szgatti
said.

By powering the lights with solar, a new level of considerations
come to play, such as understanding how the solar units will behave
in a given environment and ensuring there is adequate mid-day sun
so the lights have enough power. As long as they are not under
trees or in the shade, on the north side of a building, he said,
there should be sufficient solar energy for reliable operation. For
modern self-contained solar lights, panels need as little as two to
three hours (on average) of direct mid-day sun per day.

But before the lights are installed, electrical contractors or
engineers have to consider the light distribution required. It
varies considerably from a parking lot to a walkway, Szgatti said,
and by choosing the correct optical distribution, the optimal
amount of light can be focused where it is needed.

“It is very important to use the correct optical
distribution for your application,” he said

Installers need to consider the existing ambient lighting levels
when installing their system, and whether those existing lights
might interfere with the solar lighting system (for instance
convincing the sensors that it’s still daylight, and
therefore failing to switch on when needed). This is sometimes an
issue with bollards (posts) because they are installed 2 to 3 feet
off the ground. Modern self-contained lights, however, have
wireless connectivity, which can enable field adjustment of these
thresholds if needed.

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) has developed
standards for lighting installations using the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) procedures. The IES also publishes a
variety of handbooks and guidelines for lighting deployments. Of
interest are the Recommended Practices, which provide guidelines
for appropriate light levels for different applications. For
example, the recommended lighting levels for pedestrian scale
applications—such as bike paths, parks or sidewalks—are
significantly lower than street light applications.

There is a number of considerations for designing and installing
solar outdoor lighting, and there is also support from the
technology source itself. Like other vendors, First Light
Technologies offers engineering assistance.

“We’re trying to build a base level of knowledge
around appropriate lighting,” he said, and providing upfront
lighting layout design assistance and training to help installers
understand the system and environment in which they’re
working. “Our mission is to build a better, simpler solar
light that requires minimal experience with solar installations to
succeed.”

Often providing education to those who will be using the
lighting is the first assurance the job will go well. When speaking
with customers, Szgatti said, contractors need to ensure those
end-users can balance their desired illumination levels against
their own budget, so they understand the cost and the performance
they can expect before the system goes live.

What’s reassuring for some installers is that lighting up
an outdoor area with self-contained solar lights typically costs 50
percent less than a wired lighting system. With wire-free solar
lights, no electrical design is required. There is no trenching or
cabling and no connection to the electrical grid.

“Ultimately our technology enables end-users, such as
municipalities and facility operators, to deploy more lights with
their budgets,” he said, “Since no installer
certification is required but factory assistance is readily
available, contractors can feel confidant bidding on projects and
succeeding on the installations. “

The benefits of wireless solar-powered lighting, Szgatti said,
include the ease of design, specification and installation.

“We’ve seen people take our self-contained solar
lights out of the box and install them in as little as 15 minutes
with minimal equipment required,” he said, while traditional
solar powered lighting could take three to four hours per light and
require cranes or bucket trucks.